tridanca clam @ only 60 watts???

[Turtlesteve]

I havn't started a reef yet, but have already been trying to decide what to put in it. i want a clam, and some say i can keep a deresa or other lower-light clam near the surface of my tank EVEN though i only have 60 watts of light, some say i can't. what are your opinions? i may upgrade the lights eventually, but i bought a used reef setup at a good price and this just happened to be what i got.

 

[jim norris]

Hello,
What type of lights make up your watts? A derasa is a clam that requires less light than maxs and croceas. The best for low light is a hippopus clam. This is a less colorful clam but grows very large-so a large tank is most helpful.
Jim

 

[Turtlesteve]

i have bought one 50/50 36 inch 30 watt normal output flourescent, and am planning to buy one actinic, but i may take the 50/50 back and buy a daylight spectrum bulb from home depot since they're probably the same thing. has anyone else done this, or is this a mistake?

it's a 38 gallon tank, 36 inches long, 12 inches wide, about 20 inches tall.

 

[jim norris]

Hello,
In my opinion I would not put any clams with this light set up.
Jim

 

[Physh1]

Derasa clams do do well in low light conditions but I think you have too little light. Im would stay away. Now, if you do try it, I would recommend making sure your water is perfect and adding a supplement food like DT's phytoplankton is a very reccomended purchase to help the clams......

Cameron

 

[Clyde]

actually, in my case, I would say 'dont do it'

get lights first, as you ll be paying a lot of money for DT's to begin with, those 30 oz ones I belive are 40.00, you could upgrade to a 175W MH for 75.00 (5,500K bulb temps I think)

aquaticlighting.com I THINK, i could be wrong. I would do THIS before even thinking of a clam or whatever.

 

[alf3482]

I would say no as well get the lighting first.

 

[OrionN]

All the clams will do better with more light even if they tolerate lower light. My T. derasa and T. gigas are doing great under 400W MH.
You should get better light before attempt keeping Giant clams. If Giant clams are what you really want to keep then the more light the better. For your tank, one 250 W MH would be great.

You need to know what you want to keep first and plan your tank accordingly. This is an advice new reefkeeper really hate but it is true. I hated this when i first start out. It is cheapest to plan thing without upgrade latter. In a tank with high light, you can find places with low light to place corals. If you start with low light, you are stuck with only low light animals.

Good luck

 

[ShowSizeMarineAngel]

hello?

hello?

i would go with jim norris! statement, stay clear of all clams in this situation. or for that fact any coral requiring high output lighting. carlos!

 

[MiNdErAsR]

The only thing I would keep under 60 watts of light is fish. Buy the lighting system to better suit the needs of the creatures you plan on housing BEFORE you buy the creatures.